Why some healthcare workers don’t report violence | Healthy Bottom Line podcast

Too many doctors and nurses in hospitals and health systems face the threat of violence, and too many are reluctant to come forward if they are attacked.

Andrea Greco of Centegix talks about healthcare violence and creating a culture of safety in the latest episode of Healthy Bottom Line, a podcast from Chief Healthcare Executive.

Health systems must make sure employees know that they should speak out when they are assaulted, says Andrea Greco, senior vice president of healthcare safety at Centegix. She talked about violence in healthcare and protecting employees in the latest episode of Healthy Bottom Line, a podcast from Chief Healthcare Executive®.

Some staff are reluctant to disclose an attack or aggressive incident for a variety of reasons, Greco says.

“Sometimes it's just a perception of the employee,” she says. “You know, ‘I can't report this, so there'll be some kind of impact to me, or I'll report this, but nothing will happen.’ Or something will happen, but not to their satisfaction. So there's a lot of fear and stigma sometimes around reporting.”

Some employees don’t talk about violent incidents because they have the sense that it is just part of working in a hospital.

“There is still a culture or an expectation of tolerance within healthcare that still needs to be overcome at scale,” Greco says.

“Many folks still believe that either within themselves or that their leadership, or those around them in the organization have an understanding that it's just part of the job,” she says. “This is what will happen to us, and that the level of that feeling or that level of acceptance or tolerance can be different across different care settings. It can be more prevalent in places like behavioral health or specific units within an acute hospital, like psychiatric areas or the ER.”

• Read more: Shortages, stress and violence: Nurses aren’t seeing progress in the workplace

Greco says hospitals and healthcare organizations need to make sure employees understand that being assaulted or verbally abused is not part of their job.

Some workers are leery of speaking out about violence because they fear that they’ll be accused of escalating the situation and actually be blamed for the attack.

Healthcare leaders need to stress that staff should feel safe at work, and they should feel safe to report an attack. Organizations that stress that message are more likely to see workers come forward.

“If the employee base sees that the leadership actually cares, sees what's happening and takes action, then that will then, in turn, create that environment of comfort and safety for them,” Greco says. “They know that they're protected and that they can report these incidents without some kind of retaliation or retribution to them. It won't be put on them. They won't be blamed for these incidents.”

Hospitals also need to do more than talk to their employees about ways to improve safety. They need to take some action.

“It's very important that once the voice is given, or, even more importantly, solicited, there needs to be communication that's clear and transparent around what will happen next with that information,” Greco says.

Check out the full conversation below. We discuss the factors that prevent staff from reporting violence, engaging staff, and building a culture of safety within a healthcare organization.